Diamond celebrations for two Germiston couples

Two couples celebrated their Diamond wedding anniversaries on December 13.

It was a double celebration on Thursday when two couples celebrated their 60th wedding anniversaries. Frank and Janetta Scholtz and Francois and Lena Labuschagne were thrilled to be celebrating on the same day.

To celebrate a 60th wedding anniversary is no small feat but two in one day is something really special.

The GCN chatted to Janetta and Frank Scholtz and Francois and Lena Labuschagne on Wednesday to find out a bit more about them.

They have been friends for 16 years after meeting at Biotrim, an exercise programme they attend in Primrose.

“Until two weeks ago we didn’t even know that we celebrated our wedding anniversaries on the same day,” Janetta said.

“Frank and I took the cake to the exercise class to have a little party and we then discovered that December 13 was a special day for Francois and Lena as well.”

Frank and Janetta Scholtz are still as much in love today as they were 60 years ago.

• Janetta and Frank:

Janetta was born in Winterfold in KwaZulu-Natal and then moved to Bergville where she attended school.

After school, she took up a position at External Affairs in Pretoria where she worked as a typist.

Frank was born in Malvern and moved to Germiston in 1956.

“I stayed at the Alexander Hotel,” he said.

The couple met through Janetta’s step-brother Lourens Oosthuizen and Frank’s sister Gerty who were married.

“I have known Janetta since she was 12 years old,” Frank said.

Their acquaintance was renewed when Janetta went to visit her step-brother one night and Frank had come round to watch cricket.

“Since that night we have been together,” Frank said.

They married in the Dutch Reformed Church in Bergville and then set up home in Germiston.

They have stayed in their home in Solheim for the last 58 years.

The couple has three children, namely Frank, Ronel Strydom and Rudi, and five grandchildren.

Frank worked as a chief buyer for a company in Isando and worked there until his retirement.

Janetta became a stay-at-home mom when she had children.

Janetta loves to work in her garden and still does all her own housework.

They both played bowls, are members of Rest-a-While Service Centre for the Elderly and attend their Biotrim exercise class on Friday mornings.

“We are grateful to our gym instructor Des as she keeps us fit,” they said.

“If I could I would only do my gardening, but things in the house still need to get done,” she joked.

Frank was always an avid sportsman and said he has tried pretty much every sport except motor racing.

“You need to enjoy life to the full as tomorrow may never come,” he said.

The couple believes that you need to work hard at your relationship and do things while you can.

Janetta was recently in hospital with a skin problem and after having a fall and she thanks the staff and doctors at Life Roseacres Hospital for the excellent treatment she received.

• Francois and Lena:

The two are residents of the Witfield Retirement Village in Boksburg after moving there two years ago from their Germiston home.

Francois was born in Primrose and has spent his whole life in Germiston.

He attended President Junior High (now Hoërskool Vryburger High School) and after school, he became a plumber.

He worked for the Germiston town council in the water department and in 1968 was promoted to drainage inspector.

“I then went back to technical college and studied to become a building inspector,” he said.

“I became a senior building inspector in Germiston and then took up a position at the Edenvale town council as chief building inspector where I worked until my retirement.”

Lena was born in Bez Valley and grew up in Norton Small Farms.

She attended Laerskool Elandia and Afrikaanse Hoërskool Germiston.

After school, Lena got a job as a switchboard operator and progressed through the company later doing the wages.

The pair were introduced to each other by Lena’s father, Michael Kleynhans, as he worked with Francois.

“At the time he said he wasn’t looking for a husband for me, but I think he lied,” laughed Lena.

The couple dated for two years before getting married in the Dutch Reformed Church in Germiston.

“We didn’t plan to have children straight away but life happened,” Lena said.

The couple has six children, namely, Louise van Tonder, Chris, Nico, Francois, Jacques and Riaan.